Shawn Maxwell’s Alliance started as an experiment; a gathering of friends to play some new music without stereotype or limitation. The resulting debut album stands as a new approach and direction, adding unusual instrumentation and distinct arrangements to Shawn’s powerful voice.

Self-described as an "urban jazz guitarist" and best known for wielding his electric ax in straightahead, funky r&b/soul/bop and pop settings, Ron now presents a program of beguiling solo and self-accompanied duets on six-string steel and classical (nylon-string) instruments.

Why Do You Ride? shows off Katz’s ability to juggle off-kilter modernism with electrifying dynamic shifts and a tumult of jazz-history reference points in his vivid, smash-cut big band arrangements, combined with a fascination with what Albert Einstein had to say about learning, knowledge, love and war.